Since
the first time we met Greg in 2012 we succeeded in meeting him at least
once a
year. 2017 was not supposed to be different since Greg was coming to
the Tour
with Eurosport and there were some places relatively close to where
we’re
living. We had some places in mind. Düsseldorf, Liège, Troyes, Chambéry
and
Paris. Great chances to meet our friends at the Tour.

Like
every year we provide pictures from our archives to Eurosport. They use
them
every day in the item “LeMond Stories”, broadcasted in the evening show with
Ashley House and Greg LeMond. And so we manage to arrange some passes
to enter
the technical zone in Troyes where Greg will be present during the day.

Everything
goes well. The agenda looks promising. Greg will first meet his former
teammate,
Jérôme Simon. After the shoot he’ll be in the technical zone for the
“LeMond
Alerts”, a short intervention by Greg in the live broadcast of the
stage in
case something important would happen.

Nicolas
and I are ready. Our minds are set for Troyes. Albert is not going to
make it
because Spain is a bit too far to visit Troyes just for 1 day.
Nightmare. Less
than 48h before the holy day, an email arrived from Eurosport telling
us it
would be impossible to get passes. Apparently the whole technical zone
only
allows a maximum of 30 passes a day for invitees and security levels
are
raised. It’s impossible to reserve them for us. Even Eurosport can’t
arrange
them for their own special invitees. We’re on a rollercoaster of
emotions. Is
this a year without meeting Greg? Will it ever be possible to meet him
again?
Greg’s agenda is very charged with his business plans and so the Tour
seems
like the only place and time where Greg is available. We both handle
the bad
news in our own way and try
to move on.

July
5 - 13:00 PM.
I receive a phone call from Nicolas. He sounds positive. “We have
passes for tomorrow”. A miracle just happened. Patrick found a
solution. We’re
back in business. Let’s pack for Troyes.

July
6 - 04:00 AM.
The alarm wakes me up. I leave Antwerp by 4:30 AM. After a long
ride on Belgian and French roads I arrive around 10:00 AM at
the Hotel de la
Gare in Troyes. Nicolas is already there with his son. He’s only 9
years old,
has the same birthday as Greg and wants to see the Tour de France.
Nicolas showed
him all Greg’s Tour de France victories during the past days. The kid
is
brainwashed.

When
entering the hotel we meet Kathy, Patrick and Greg during breakfast. We
talk
about his business at LeMond Composites while eating some croissants. We can’t
report too much about his plans, but bicycles are in the scope of the
project.One thing
is for sure. This is
huge and looks very promising. We all just have to be patient. Greg
tells us
it’s not a good idea to set a deadline. But the result will be amazing.
Believe
me, we’ve seen some very nice designs on Greg’s computer.

We
leave the hotel and walk to the finish which is only 500m further down
the road. The Tour de France is huge. It's only
11:00 AM, 6 hours before the end of the stage, and the streets are
already filled with people wearing yellow and polka dot caps. Some of
them recognize Greg. “Greg,
Greg. A picture please”. But Greg’s too busy with the first shoot of
the day.
He meets Jérôme Simon, one of his teammates in the 1990 Tour de France.
Simon
was one of the riders who helped Greg getting back in the peloton when
he had a
flat on the Col de
Marie Blanque. “This is the man who saved my Tour de
France
victory” says Greg when the cameras are rolling. Simon laughs and the
chat goes
on.
It’s
not a surprise Greg later heads back to the selfie hunters and smiles
to their cameras.

Later
we go to the technical zone where Greg’s camper is parked. It’s hot.
Very hot.
33 degrees and everybody’s sweating. We get in the camper where the air
conditioning is working hard. This feels good. We start talking. About
Greg’s
business, his career, the way the riders are racing today. Greg just
can’t stop
talking about it. He’s very motivated and shows us some awesome designs
of the
bikes he’s planning to build.

Everybody’s hungry and we decide to have lunch.
The improvised
restaurant feels like a Michelin 5-star place. I’m eating between Kathy
and
Greg. There’s no better place in the world to eat. After our lunch and
desert
we head back to the camper.

Nicolas’ son has a plan.
He wants to interview Greg. With all these
videos he has seen during the week he has a lot to ask. “Why did you
choose to
ride for ADR while it wasn’t that great team?”. “Are you friends with Bernard
Hinault?”. Greg insists and answers every question with a great story.
The boy
is happy. His first interview is a fact.

We decide to go outside and make a short live
video with Greg who’s
telling our followers they can send us questions he will answer in
Paris. Some
of them. We will filter them to a shortlist. It’s a funny shoot. We all
have a
laugh and enjoy this quality time.

The peloton is almost
arriving. We decide to get ready at the finish
line. A Quick Step rider punches the sky. It’s Kittel winning the
stage. A
battery of journalists is chasing the riders. They all look exhausted
because
of the heat. We make some pictures and head back to the camper.

Greg is preparing
himself for the “Le Tour by LeMond” show where Ashley
House and Greg look back on today’s stage. I decide to join them in the
big
Eurosport trailer which is transformed to a high-tech studio. After 5
minutes I
want to get out, but I can’t. It’s like hell inside. Really too hot.
Everybody’s suffering. Ashley looks like he swam into the studio. His
shirt is
wet and both Greg and Ashley are using a towel to dry themselves in
between the
takes. 40 minutes later we all jump out of the studio and realize it’s
better
outside. Even when temperatures are still around 35 degrees.

We end our day talking
to Greg and make some last arrangements for
Paris. In two weeks we might meet again on the Champs Elysées. Hugs and
kisses.
We say goodbye. It starts raining. The streets of Troyes are empty now.
What
a cool day. Or should we say hot.